


Amid The Falling Snow

by nyx_kxk



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Friendship/Love, Original Character(s), POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-17
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-09 00:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1139518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyx_kxk/pseuds/nyx_kxk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Found nearly dead in the middle of the coldest winter Northern California has ever seen, Aurora is rescued by Derek Hale. After gaining her strength back, Rorie discovers that her near death experience opened up a door to the Otherside and has to deal with new found consequences, gaining friendships and a love interest along the way. But when a mysterious man from the Hale's past comes back with a warning, drama isn't far behind. There's a new pack on their way to Beacon Hills with a thirst for human blood, and Rorie is all too human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_I’m dead. Frozen to death on the outskirts of town.Technically I’m not dead just yet, but hypothermia has definitely set in and my body is starting to shut down. I’m doomed._

_So let me tell you a little bit about myself while we wait for mother nature to finish the job. My name is Aurora Winter and I am 17 years old. I’ve been homeless since this summer after running away from my step-father. I’m sure you’ve heard the story, girl runs away from her abusive dad, more times than either of us can count but it shouldn’t be that way and so I’m putting my story out there too. Seems only fair since I’m about to die._

_Anyway, it’s never gotten this cold before. And I’ve never experienced this kind of numbness brought on by the cold before. So obviously laying down and shutting my eyes wasn’t a smart idea, and allowing myself to drift off into this weird place of in betweenness wasn’t the smartest idea either. But hey, I never said I was a wilderness survival expert. And if I could sit up, I would. But I can’t. Because I’m dying!_

_So, you’re probably wondering what my step-father did to me that was so bad I had to run away. I don’t really want to talk about, but since there is an unknown amount of time between now and when my heart stops beating, I suppose we can fill it in with memories from my childhood. You’ll probably get bored, but you asked for it so here it is._

_I was five the first time Charles hit me. Charles is my step-father, by the way. I had been playing with the dog and accidentally knocked over a vase. The vase didn’t even break, but as soon as it hit the floor Charles had smacked me a good one and kicked the dog. I remember being scared of him from that day on. And then my mom got really sick when I was 10 and Charles began drinking. He was a mean drunk, yelling at me all the time and he began hitting me more often. Mom couldn’t do anything because she was restricted to stay in bed and so most of the time it was just me and Charles. But then Charles started sneaking off into my bedroom at night. At first it was to apologize and then he’d cuddle next to me, reeking of cheap vodka and cigarrettes. His ‘cuddling’ became more demanding and--_

_I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Even though my body can’t feel anything, my heart still hurts when I think about how young I lost my innocence and how I can never get it back. Anyway, I was around 14 when I started getting a backbone and sticking up for Mom and me. It usually resulted in me getting thrown against a wall and the shit getting beat out of me, but whenever something I said struck one of Charles’ nerves, I felt powerful._

_Mom’s health started to get even worse, she spent more time at the hospital then at home and Charles rarely let me visit her. He said that I would just make her worse, although I don’t know how that would be possible. But when I did get to visit her, it was like nothing had changed. The smile on her face made me feel special, like she never smiled at anyone else like that. I’d curl up next to her, tell her about school, and it was like we were back at home. Mom was my favorite person in the whole world._

_I was 16 when Mom died. It happened pretty fast, I don’t think she was in any pain. Charles was upset because he would have to suffer through time with Mom’s family, I was upset because I had lost the one person who loved me. After the funeral, Charles went back to his old, drunken self, getting shitfaced and then sneaking off into my room. I was so angry at him, he acted like he never loved Mom. And so I stabbed him._

_It wasn’t fatal or anything, to be honest, the guy deserves to die in a far more painful way. But it was painful enough that he was incapacitated and I was able to put my long-time plan to run away into action. I had a packed bag under my bed that had a change of clothes, some nonperishables, and some money. As soon as Charles hit the floor, I had my bag across my shoulders and was out the door._

_I walked from Carson City, Nevada to the outskirts of Beacon Hill, California in about ten days, which wasn’t that bad. Walking for three hours, breaking for an hour, and then going for another three hours wasn’t that grueling of a pace until I got low on food. I had been hoping to make it to Los Angeles, but with my food supply practically gone I had to stop._

_The woods around Beacon Hills were creepy, but it’s where I found myself looking for berries and setting traps for rabbits which I learned from Mom. She’d been a park ranger before I was born and before she got sick, she’d take me camping when Charles was away on business. Those were the best times of my life. So I lived off of rabbits and berries until winter hit. It was harder to trap the rabbits and the berries obviously died. Sometimes, I could only eat once a day and even skip a day if I couldn’t trap anything. And so I started migrating closer to Beacon Hills, but never went into town because I knew they’d call Charles and I wasn’t going to go back._

_And so that leads us to now. My stomach was aching from being empty and I was tired so I laid down to get some rest, knowing that I probably wasn’t going to wake up tomorrow. And I’m almost okay with that. I’ll get to be with Mom, right? Wait...did you hear that? I swear I just heard something. Why won’t my eyes open?! It...it sounded like a wolf. Shit._


	2. Chapter 2

Warm. Was it warm in heaven? Probably not....but it was hot in hell, right? I was in hell, that was the only way to explain why I had a thin line of sweat beading across my forehead as I began surfacing into consciousness. Trying to open my eyes, I could see a steady but faint orange light, but my eyes wouldn’t focus on anything. Panic began setting in, I hadn’t wanted to go to hell...what had I done that was so bad? I’d never hurt anyone.

“She’s awake.” The tenor male voice to my far right startled me causing me to jump involuntarily. My eyes were still unfocused.

“Obviously.” A deeper male voice somewhere in front of me replied.

“What’s your name?” The tenor voice asked, and I could only assume he was talking to me.

Fear had me muted but my vision was slowly returning. There wasn’t any fire and brimstone to be found, instead, I was in what appeared to be a bedroom. The room was fairly big, the bed where I was laying was in the corner opposite the door, there was a window directly next to the bed (and from where I was laying I could see out of it), there was a desk with a lamp that was emitting the faint orange glow that encompassed the room, and I could clearly see the men who had been speaking.

The one on my right was tall, toned, tanned skin, dark hair and dark eyes, and had a slightly precarious jaw that tilted to the side. The one near the desk in front of me had the same tanned complexion, but he was a few inches taller with large, almost bulky, muscles. He had dark hair but his eyes were lighter.

“Wh-who are you?” My voice was dry and sounded like I had swallowed rock salts.

“We asked you first.” The man in front of me crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Derek, you can’t rescue someone and then interrogate them.” The younger man with the lopsided jaw rolled his eyes.

“Then what would you do, Scott? Exactly.” The man whose name was apparently Derek spoke with a fierce tone. The boy named Scott flashed a quick smile as it took Derek a second to process what he’d done. “Damn it.”

Scott stepped forward and smiled, “As you just found out, I’m Scott and that jerk is Derek. What’s your name?”

Looking from Scott to Derek, I could feel tears stinging my eyes. They were going to take me back to Charles...I didn’t want to go back.

“Please don’t take me back to him...please.” I managed to choke out as sobs shook my entire body. “I can’t go back.”

“Back where?” Scott asked, moving to sit next to me on the bed as his face contorted into concern.

“Great.” Derek growled before stalking out of the room causing me to jump as the door slammed shut behind him. Sitting up, my arms felt like jello.

“It’s okay, just relax.” Scott tried to place a hand on my shoulder but I pushed him away.

“Just relax. It’ll be okay...” Charles whispered in my ear as the weight of his body crushed against me.

“Hey! What’s wrong?” Scott’s voice pulled me back into the room and I looked up at him as he held my arms away from his face. Did I try attacking him?

Ripping my hands out of his arms, I bit my lip and looked down. Silent tears fell onto the black comforter wrapped around me.

“I-I’m sorry. I thought....Sorry.” I muttered, laying back down and looking up at the ceiling. “Can you please go...I’m tired.” And it was true, my body felt exhausted even though I’d barely moved.

“Yeah...okay.” Scott said, watching me carefully as he stood up and backed out of the room, closing the door behind him.

So...I’d been rescued? That’s what Scott had said. Where was I? It was dark outside the window but the light emitting from the house made the line of trees surrounding the house visible. What was going on? I’d worry about that later, closing my eyes once more, I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The loud voices from outside of my room woke me up again. It was light outside, by the position of the sun I’d guess it was afternoon. I couldn’t quite hear what the voice were saying, but I could hear Scott and Derek’s voice but there were a couple other people out there too. They sounded angry...

I pulled the comforter up to my chin and tried to listen to what they were saying when the door burst open and nine people piled into the bedroom before me. I tried to assess as quickly as I could and concluded that there were three girls and six guys including Scott and Derek.

“Where did you come from?” A man with dark skin and large muscles stepped up to the bed and glared down at me.

“Boyd, back off!” Scott cried out, trying to pull the larger boy away from me but failing.

“Answer me!” He growled and if I didn’t know better I’d swear his dark eyes flashed gold.

“Carson City!” I cried out, afraid that if I didn’t answer he’d do something drastic.

Boyd stepped back, seeming satisfied with his answer. Another guy, with fair skin, brown hair, and light eyes stepped forward. “What are you doing here?” He asked, clenching his fist next to him.

Letting out a defeated sigh, I sat up carefully. “It’s...it’s a long story.”

“Yeah? Start from the beginning.” A blonde girl glared over at me.

And so I told them. I told them about Charles and how he use to abuse me, physically and emotionally. The only thing I didn’t tell them was about Charles sneaking into my bedroom every night. I told them about running away and how I got here and where I wanted to go, and they just stood there watching me silently.

Once I finished, I laid back down, exhausted once more. I could hear the group whispering but I rolled over on my side to face the wall. Tears were streaming down my face, but I wasn’t going to let them see me cry again. I felt someone sit down next to me so I rolled over to see Scott looking down at me.

“Hey...I’m sorry.” His voice was low. Scott looked back at the people behind him, “Can you guys give us a minute?” The group slowly filed out of the room but a boy with short brown hair stayed back. “Just a minute.” Scott said reassuringly to the boy who shrugged and walked out of the room.

“I’m sorry I tried to attack your face yesterday.” I muttered softly, sitting up again.

“You didn’t attack my face...you were clawing at your chest..” Scott looked at me with a confused look on his face. I looked down at my chest and sure enough, long scratches marked the skin above my breast. “I didn’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Oh..thank you. For being nice to me.” I looked up at him and saw a smile spread across his face.

“Don’t worry about it. Sorry about those guys...they get a little heated when there’s someone new in the house.”

I shrugged, “That looked like a lot more than heated.”

Scott laughed softly, “Okay, aggressively paranoid is more like it.”

“Paranoid about what?” I asked, watching as the smile on his face vanished.

“Er-um...nothing.” His smile recovered quickly, “Are you hungry?”

I nodded, “A little, yeah.”

Scott stood up, “Okay, I’ll bring you something. Give me like ten minutes.”

Watching him walk out of the room, I laid back down against the pillow and looked up at the ceiling. What the hell was going on here? It seemed like my captors had a secret and I was an apparent threat, although I had no idea how the hell I’d even gotten here. The only thing I knew was Scott was the nicest person I’d ever met since Mom died.

***

It seemed like a lot longer than ten minutes before my door finally opened again. Expecting to see Scott, I had a smile on my face but it crumpled when I saw it was one of the new guys. He was the one that hung around after Scott shooed the rest of the group out of the room earlier.

“Uh, hi.” I looked down as he sat on the bed next to me with a tray full of food.

“Hey....what’s your name?” He asked, looking down at me curiously.

“Aurora.” I muttered, looking over the food that he’d brought me. Five slices of bacon, a large plate piled high with scrambled eggs, four pieces of toast, eight breakfast sausages, and a large bowl of oatmeal.

“I’m Stiles. Sorry for all of the trouble. Oh, and hope you’re hungry ‘cuz Lydia is use to cooking for six...guys who like to eat a ton. Not that I eat a ton, but I do eat a lot...” Stiles spoke quickly, almost nervously.

“Why didn’t Scott bring it?” I asked, not trying to be rude but Scott was the only person I was sure I could trust in this house full of crazy people.

Stiles out the window and then his gaze flashed back at me, “Scott had to go somewhere, I’m not sure.”

Squinting my eyes at him, it was nearly impossible to tell if he was lying or not. But I shrugged and picked up a piece of toast, better to not make any new enemies. “I’m not going to be able to eat all of this...”

“You have to, Lydia will be offended if you don’t.” Stiles responded, looking back toward the door.

“How about I share this with you if you tell me what’s going on here.” I shrugged easily and took a big bite of toast.

Stiles looked like he might wet himself, “What do you mean? There’s nothing going on here..”

“Look, I’m not stupid. I know something is going on. You guys are a drug ring, right? Selling ‘roids to the high school football players? Or maybe you guys are a sex trafficking ring, I will not let you sell my body.” The mixture of confusion, relief, and horror that held his face in a grimace was too much and I burst out laughing.

“You’re making jokes now?” Stiles gave me a look that I couldn’t quite comprehend as he grabbed the plate of eggs and started eating as I nodded. “Well, you’re not even close with either of those guesses. We’re just a group of high school students. Well, Derek’s not, but the rest of us are.”

“That Boyd guy does not look like a high school student. Actually, none of you really do...except for you and Scott and the brunette girl and the redhead.” I shrugged, taking a bite of oatmeal.

“That’s Allison and Lydia. And yeah, Boyd, Isaac, Jackson, Erica, Lydia, Allison, Scott, and I are all high school students. Seniors...wooo.” His cheer was full of sarcasm, making me laugh lightly.

“So...do you all live here?” I asked.

“No, just Boyd, Isaac, and Erica stay here with Derek.” Stiles answered, finishing up the eggs and moving on to tackle the bacon.

“Oh.” I took a bite of the sausage.

“Yeah...so did Derek tell you about how you got here?” Stiles asked in between bites of bacon.

“No, I just remember almost dying and then I woke up here. Why the hell am I here?” I couldn’t help the frustration from permeating my voice.

“Well, from what I’ve gathered, Derek found you in the snow. He saw that you were still alive but barely, and so he brought you here and has pretty much nursed you back to health.” Stiles smiled, pleased with his explanation.

“Why did he bring me here if all I’m doing is creating problems? It seems pretty messed up to me that he saves me and then treats me like crap.”

“That’s just how he is with everyone. He’ll soften up once you get to know him.” Stiles shrugged, finishing up the last piece of toast.

“I don’t want to get to know him.” I looked down, pushing back the rest of the sausages to Stiles. “I’m stuffed.”

Stiles dug in without hesitation. “He’s really not that bad.”

“I’ll believe that once I see it.” I laid back in the bed. “Stiles?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being nice to me.”

Stiles was speechless as I pulled the covers up to my chin again. “I’m tired.” I grumbled, the full feeling in my belly was a feeling I wasn’t use to and I’d done a lot of talking, my daily quota of movement must have been filled because my eyelids were already drooping.

“Okay...I’ll go tell Lydia you ate it all and then I’ll check on you later if Scott’s not back.” Stiles said as he stood up with the tray in hand. I nodded sleepily as he moved to the door and shut it behind him. I still wanted to know what the hell was going on in this house, but at least for now I had two people I was sure I could trust.


	4. Chapter 4

There was a light knock on the door so I pushed myself up into a sitting position. I’d already been awake for an hour, thinking and looking out the window. I managed to gather some information from both Stiles and Scott during the week I’d been at the Hale house. I still hadn’t left the bedroom, it wasn’t like I was forbidden to venture around, but the idea of running into Derek, Erica, or Boyd wasn’t exactly motivating. Stiles and Scott kept me company pretty much 24/7 except when they were in school or at their houses. But I’d concluded that I wasn’t in any immediate danger here and it didn’t seem like they were going to send me back to Charles.

“Come on in.” I called, resting against the pile of pillows that Stiles had managed to scrounge up for me.

Stiles stepped into the room and smiled brightly as he walked over and sat next to me in the bed. “I got you something.”

The sly smile on his face struck curiosity in me and I gave him my best puppy-eyed look. “What?”

Stiles rummaged around in his backpack, he’d just gotten back from school, and withdrew a dark blue thing. I wasn’t sure what exactly that thing was, but as soon as Stiles opened it up it struck me.

“A NINTENDO DS?!” I cried out, grabbing it from him before flipping it over to check what game was in it. Pokemon. Excellent. “Oh my god, Stiles! Thank you so much!” I pulled him into a hug before turning back to the DS.

“I figured when you’re not sleeping and Scott and I aren’t around, you’re probably really bored.” Stiles shrugged, watching me press the buttons on the device.

“Yeah, since no one but you guys ever comes to see me.” I grimaced, unsure of why the other people in the house didn’t seem to like me.

“They’re still getting use to you. Isaac asked how you were today.” Stiles scooted over so we were parallel to each other and pulled out his own DS.

“He couldn’t come up here and ask me himself?” I could feel tears smarting my eyes but I quickly blinked them away. It was so frustrating because I still had no idea why I was still in the Hale house or when I’d be able to leave, but I wasn’t even sure I wanted to leave. I had nowhere to go.

Stiles looked over at me and must have seen the tears in my eyes because he sat up straight and took my hand. “Hey, don’t cry. They’re warming up to having you here.”

“By the time they warm up to me, Derek will probably be kicking me out. How long does he plan on keeping me here, anyway?” I asked, knowing I sounded a little harsh but not really caring. For being my ‘savior’ Derek Hale sure was an asshole.

“Derek’s not going to kick you out...but don’t you like it here?” Stiles asked, his deep brown eyes searching mine questioningly.

Shrugging, I had to look away. “This room is really nice and everything, but it’s the only thing I’ve seen other than the bathroom.” The bedroom had it’s own bathroom so I literally had never left the room.

Something clicked behind Stiles’ eyes and he stood up, holding out his hands to me. “C’mon then. I’ll show you around.”

Staring up at him in disbelief, I shook my head. “What if Derek’s out there?....or Boyd....or anyone else?”

“Derek’s in town, Boyd has detention, Erica is hanging out with some friends, Allison is at home, Lydia is in a student council meeting, Jackson is with Lydia, Isaac might be home but I’m not sure, Scott is at work, and I’m right here.” Stiles listed everyone off and smiled brightly. “And I’m not gonna yell at you, and Isaac is just a giant puppy.”

Hesitantly, I reached out and Stiles helped pull me up into a standing position. My knees were still weak, but I’d been walking to and from the bathroom myself. “If I get tired, promise to carry me back to bed?” I joked, but the look on Stiles face was pricelessly hilarious.

Keeping a tight grip of Stiles’ hand, we ventured out of the bedroom. Surprisingly, the hallway was well lit with windows lining the wall to our left. There was a wall decorated with landscape portraits to the right and another room directly ahead of us. As we rounded the decorated wall, there was a staircase to the right and another room to the left.

“There’s an attic, but Erica, Boyd, and Isaac stay up there. That room is Derek’s room, so obviously no one’s allowed in it.” Stiles pointed the last room on the right. I nodded and Stiles led me to the staircase. Gripping his hand tightly, we slowly made our way down. My weak knees made it so Stiles taking most of the weight, we eventually were on the ground level.

“That’s the living room,” Stiles pointed to the spaciously open room to the right. There were several comfortable looking sofas and lounge chairs scattered around a large TV. From the hall, I could spot several large bookshelves filled top to bottom with worn looking books. “And over here is the dining room.” Stiles announced, motioning to the left. Rounding the corner closest to the dining room, we walked along the stairs. “Up ahead is the kitchen and the staircase to the basement.”

“Looks...homey.” I commented, looking at the pictures that hung along the wall. Most of them were pictures of the group of people who had stormed into my room on my second day at the house, but there were a couple pictures of people I didn’t recognize. Looking closer, I noticed the pictures with the unknown people had evidence they’d been near a fire with the edges charred.

“Well...it is a home.” Stiles replied sarcastically as we entered the kitchen. Breath caught in my chest and I stopped in my tracks.

Isaac looked up from his bowl of cereal and nearly dropped it when he spotted us. Standing up quickly, his eyes frantically went between me and Stiles. “Er..you’re up?”

I nodded and looked down at my feet as Stiles pulled me forward.

“I figured she could stretch her legs a bit.” Stiles said easily as he handed me an apple from the bowl of fruit on the island counter.

“Oh, yeah.” Isaac mumbled before putting his bowl in the sink.

“Want to join us on the tour?” Stiles asked lightly, taking a big bite of his own apple.

Isaac looked like he’d rather do anything else but he shrugged and followed Stiles, as he pulled me along, back out into the hallway. Rounding the staircase again, we entered the living room. I was hesitant as I let go of Stiles and moved over to the book shelves. Reading was always one of my favorite pastimes because books could take me wherever I wanted to go. Reading was my first attempts at escaping.

The selection was made up of a bunch of classics, but there were some newer books in the mix as well. Taking a book out I hadn’t read before, I flipped open the front cover carefully. Scanning through the pages, I looked up at Stiles. “Could I borrow this?”

Isaac and Stiles exchanged a glance before Stiles shrugged. “Sure. Derek won’t mind.

I wasn’t entirely sure if Stiles was telling the truth or not, but I was suddenly exhausted. Sitting down on one of the sofas, I struggled to catch my breath. “Is the tour about over?” I asked in between gulps of air.

Stiles walked over to me with his face full of concern while Isaac stood back and watched with a mixture of concern and confusion written across his face. “Yeah, there’s just the deck left, but that’s nothing special. Let’s get you back to bed.” Stiles looked down at himself and then looked at me, and I could tell he was questioning his own strength. The moment would have been funny if I wasn’t so tired. “Ahhh, Isaac? Can you help me?”

I glanced at Isaac and he didn’t look much bigger than Stiles, so I was already questioning how this was going to work. I managed to stand up again, but I had to lean on Stiles more than before. Isaac nodded before briskly making his way over to us and before I knew it, I was in his arms. There was no sign of any discomfort or struggle on his face, it seemed effortless.

We were up the stairs and in my room in a matter of minutes, Isaac gently laying me down on the bed. Stiles walked over and pulled the covers up over me, sitting down next to me. “Are you hungry? Do you need anything?”

I shook my head and held up the apple that Stiles had snagged me earlier. “I think I’m just gonna sleep for a little bit.”

“Okay, well I’ll be back later.” Stiles smiled before herding Isaac out of the room with him. Rolling onto my side I smiled to myself. I was lucky to have Stiles. Spending time with him and Scott was the one thing that kept me from going crazy. And so I quickly fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of mostly Stiles.


	5. Chapter 5

The next week at the Hale House brought a pleasant change in events. Isaac started dropping by to visit, usually accompanied by Stiles, Scott or both, but sometimes he visited on his own. At first it was awkward, until we started talking about zombie movies. We talked endlessly about strategies for a zombie attack and the likeliness any of us would make it out alive. He began bringing me supper on a nightly basis so we could continue our conversations.

It was during one of his nightly visits, along with Scott and Stiles, when the ever elusive Derek Hale made his first appearance in nearly two weeks. Strutting in with a seemingly painful look on his face, he took in the scene before him. I was perched on a stack of pillows, Stiles was sitting down next to me with his feet on the bed, Scott was sitting crosslegged on one corner and Isaac was sitting identically on the opposite corner.

“What’s going on?” Derek asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“We’re discussing weapons for a zombie apocalypse, wanna join in?” Stiles asked, his usual sarcasm flaring up.

“No.” Derek said, glaring at the boy sitting next to me.

“Okay, then what do you want? Because this is an important discussion.” Scott grinned like a little boy.

“Stiles, your dad is here.” Derek said before walking out of the room, leaving everyone speechless. The four of us scrambled to the window against the bed and sure enough, there was a police car sitting in the drive.

“What does he want?” Stiles mumbled, mostly to himself before hopping off the bed and heading out of the room. “I’ll be right back.”

None of us moved or spoke for a long time. Scott and Isaac both looked like they were concentrating really hard on something, but I just laid back against the pillows to wait for Stiles to get back. Suddenly, Scott coughed.

“I’ll be right back.” He said, before crawling off the bed and taking off out of the room.

“Me too.” Isaac said, following close behind.

And so I was left behind, alone with my thoughts once more. I’d been getting stronger since taking the tour of the house, but I still tired really easily and I could already feel the pulls of sleep calling to me. Try as I did, I couldn’t help but close my eyes and drift off.

 

_“Rorie!” Stiles called out to me but I couldn’t see him. I was standing in the middle of a dense forest, spinning around as I tried to figure out where Stiles’ voice was coming from. “Rorie! Where are you?”_

_Spinning around once more, I was engulfed in blackness as thick as tar. I couldn’t breathe, my body felt heavy. “Stiles?!” I cried. And then I heard it._

_The noise from the night I almost died. A wolf’s howl._

_“RORIE!” Stiles’ voice sounded distant, but like it was coming from in all directions._

_There was a blinding white light and I was in a high school, I could tell from the lines of lockers and crowds of students but it was as if no one could see me. “Stiles?” I called out, but no one paid any attention to me. And then there was a scream from the end of the hall and all the students vanished. Standing at the entryway of the school stood a figure that was larger than an your average canine, almost as big as a man standing up straight. It took a step forward, it’s eyes locked on me. And then another step, and another, and soon it was sprinting toward me. Before I could move, something happened and the wolf changed form. Scott was standing directly in front of me._

_“Rorie...I can explain.” He said, closing the gap between us before digging his claws in my neck._

I was screaming before I even realized what happened. Sitting up straight in absolute terror, I couldn’t stop screaming. The image of Scott with his claws in my neck wouldn’t go away. The door slammed open and Stiles was there. “Rorie!” He shouted, rushing over to the bed and pulling me into his arms. My screams cut off as soon as his arms were around me, holding me securely to him. “What happened?”

“...you...wolf....Scott...claws...” I mumbled, trying to make the thoughts in my head form full sentences.

Stiles rested his chin on the top of my head as Scott and Isaac rushed in.

“What happened?!” They asked in unison.

“Um...I think we need to talk to Derek.” Stiles said, sounding like he was trying as hard as he could to stay calm. “Can you guys go get him?”

Scott and Isaac exchanged a glance before bolting out of the door again.

“Okay. Rorie, you need to tell me exactly what happened.” Stiles said, pulling me away so I was at arms length.

Looking up at Stiles, I nodded. “I had a..nightmare. I couldn’t find you and then I heard a howl...I was at a school and someone screamed...and then there was a wolf and it changed into Scott and...and...he attacked me. Clawed me in the neck...and then I woke up.”

Stiles eyes searched mine and after a few seconds he nodded before standing up. “I’ll be right back.”

He was out of the room and I was left alone again, the image of the wolf...of Scott still seared into my brain. Why were they making such a big deal out of a nightmare though? I’d had plenty of nightmares before, especially since arriving to the Hale House, but I’d never screamed myself awake before.

In just a matter of minutes, Stiles was back in the room and Derek, Isaac, and Scott followed closely behind. “I told him what your nightmare was about...he wants to talk to you.” Stiles looked apologetic as he moved to the back of the room with the other two boys. Derek strutted over to the bed and sat down facing me. He didn’t have the same angry expression as he did before...it was more quizzical.

“Aurora...” Derek started but I cut him off.

“You can call me Rorie, those guys do.” I said, motioning to Stiles, Scott, and Isaac who were watching and listening very carefully.

“Rorie. Is this the first dream you’ve had like this?” Derek asked, his voice was absolutely serious.

I nodded, “I’ve never had a dream like that before. It felt so...real. Like I was actually there and when Scott...I mean the wolf, dug its claws into my neck...I could feel the pain just before I woke up.”

Derek ran his hand through his hair, “I want you to meet someone. I’ll have Allison bring you some clothes.” I began shaking, my nerves were on fire. What was going on? Derek was about to get up when he looked down at me. He must have been able to see the fear in my eyes because he put his hand on my shoulder and looked me directly in the eyes. “Hey..its going to be okay.” He said before getting up and walking away. Isaac and Scott followed him, Scott pulling out his phone to call Allison.

Stiles stepped out from the corner and nearly ran to the bed. “Derek’s going to take you to Deaton, he’s our friend. He’ll be able to figure out what’s going on.”

“Stiles, it was just a dream, why is everyone so freaked out?” I asked, laying back against the pillows but not daring to close my eyes.

Stiles looked down at his hands and spoke very carefully. “Something’s going on, Rorie. That wasn’t just a dream...”

***

Within the hour I was dressed and loaded up into Stiles’ Jeep. I couldn’t get what Stiles said out of my head, if is wasn’t just a dream...than what was it? And who was this Deaton guy? I assumed my questions would be answered but as we pulled into the parking lot of a vet’s clinic, I began to doubt Derek and even Stiles.

“This is Deaton’s office.” Stiles explained quickly as he looked back and saw my confused expression.

I just nodded, not sure what exactly I was suppose to do. Stiles parked and cut off the engine before rushing around the outside of the vehicle to help me out of the passenger seat. Holding on to him, our group began making our way inside.

The lobby was quite small, but surprisingly Stiles and me, Derek, Scott, and Isaac fit. Scott walked around the counter and was gone through a swinging door. I could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door and then a man with dark skin and kind eyes walked through the swinging door. I could only assume he was Deaton.

The smile on the man’s face made his eyes crinkle as he stood before us. “Hello, Aurora. Scott’s told me all about you.”


	6. Chapter 6

“So let me see if I’m understanding this,” I paused, looking up at Deaton who nodded, “The dream I had wasn’t a dream...it was a vision? And there’s such things as werewolves and I’m living with six of them?” I counted on my fingers as I looked up at the older man for confirmation to which he nodded. “Well fuck.”

It was unbelievable but...it made sense. Why else would everyone be so secretive about everything? So concerned that I would find out the truth? It would explain why they all congregated at Derek’s house...they were a pack.

“But then why do Stiles, Lydia, and Allison hang around?” I asked, my curiosity building until I couldn’t contain it. “And why haven’t they eaten me? And does that mean vampires, mermaids, ghosts...are they real too? And why the hell did I have a vision? And-”

Deaton cut me off with a rise of his hand, “I can only handle so many questions at once.” I gave him an apologetic look to which he smiled. “Stiles and Allison are human...as far as we know. Lydia may or may not be a banshee. Their pack does not feed on humans, you’re lucky it was Derek who found you and not some rogue omega. And as for other mythical creatures, some of them are real and some are not, we have yet to discover them all. And the only explanation to the vision you had is; before Derek found you, you died.”

“I died?!” The shock must have registered on my face because Deaton chuckled lightly. “I’m glad you find me dying funny.” I grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Deaton’s face smoothed out and he looked at me with seriousness again, “Your heart was stopped when Derek found you and once his skin touched yours, his healing ability must have brought you back...that’s the only explanation I have as to why you’re still here.

I looked down at my feet, dangling from chair I was sitting in. This was a lot of information to process. “So then...why did I get the vision?”

Deaton nodded, “When you die, you pass through a figurative door to the other side, but when you are brought back...that door doesn’t close completely and it leaves traces of the otherworld all over you. Your body is finally healed to the point where you’re strong enough to have these visions.” He explained, watching my reaction carefully.

“What are these traces of ‘other world’ going to do to me?” I asked, looking up at the older man.

“I don’t know yet...we’ll have to wait and see.” Deaton replied honestly, but I wished he could have at least tried to install confidence in me. I was still terrified by everything. “But my suggestion is to go back to the house, live life normally, and if you have another vision, tell one of them to contact me immediately. I’ve yet to work with a clairvoyant of your nature.” Deaton smiled brightly, revealing a row of perfectly white teeth.

I nodded before standing up to walk out of the examination area. The guys had been instructed by Deaton to wait in the lobby while he spoke with me, even though I could tell Stiles, Scott, and Isaac wanted to be in there with me. As I pushed open the swinging doors, the boys rushed forward to offer assistance while Derek watched us carefully.

Leaving the vet and heading back to the Hale House in Stiles Jeep was almost as uneventful as the ride to the vet, the only difference was that everyone was asking questions to fill the silence this time. I wasn’t sure I wanted to claim that Derek had saved me more than he’d thought, or that now because I was basically a zombie I could have visions now. So I answered the questions as briefly as I could without making eye contact with anyone.

We pulled up in the driveway and once more Stiles rushed around to help me out. Scott, Isaac, and Derek were standing outside of the Jeep as Stiles helped me onto the ground. It was so weird, being around Derek after not seeing him (but thinking that he hated me) for two weeks. He seemed so...different from the first time I’d met him. Not as...mean. Still standoffish and distant, but at least he wasn’t glaring at me anymore.

Derek went around back of the house as Scott, Isaac, and Stiles helped me into the house and up the stairs to my room. I’d shooed them out of the room while I changed back into the pajamas Scott’s mom had donated to my cause. A simple knee-length nightgown, nothing fancy but it was nice.

Crawling into bed, the weight of the day hit me all at once. I was under the same roof as six werewolves...and possibly a banshee?! And now I could see into the future or whatever it was that I saw...did that mean Scott was going to claw my throat out!? No...I didn’t think so. Maybe my vision just wanted me to know what I was living with...maybe my visions would be helpful.

There was a light knock on the door and Stiles stepped inside. “Hey...how are you?” He asked as he walked over and sat down on the bed next to me.

“Today’s confusing.” I replied, knowing if I started talking about everything, I might start crying. I cry at everything.

Stiles nodded, “So you have visions then?”

“I guess.”

“That’s pretty cool.”

“I guess.”

And we sat in silence for the next ten minutes, but it was a comfortable silence. I never felt the need to fill the air with talking when I was with Stiles, it just felt nice to have him there. When I was with Scott or Isaac, I felt weird if there was too much silence...like I was boring them. But I never got that feeling with Stiles.

“Stiles..” I looked over at him, with his head resting against the wall and his eyes nearly closed.

“Mhmm?”

“Thank you.” I whispered. Just looking at sleepy Stiles was making me tired.

“You’re welcome.” And together we both drifted to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!


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